Gun Control in the News: Obama’s Fraud Campaign, Ban on Concealed-Carry and More

by admin on February 27, 2013

Alabama City Votes to “Disarm Individuals” in Disasters

Guntersville, Alabama’s mayor is working to introduce a law the would allow local law enforcement to disarm individuals during times of disaster.

The ordinance is an effort to give police more authority to “protect themselves” in quick response cases like the April 2011 tornadoes It’s modeled after a similar law already on the books in Tuscaloosa.

The ordinance will appear on the agenda at the next city council meeting.

Obama’s Gun Control Campaign on Twitter a Fraud

A Texas representative is accusing the President of using fake Twitter accounts to support his gun control legislation. Representative Steve Stockman said the President called for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation and two thirds of the responses were fake.

In a press release, Stockman said 10 of the 16 responses were computer-generated spambots with fake pictures. He said the users’ messages were identical. In addition, they hadn’t interacted with anyone else on Twitter and only followed one person, Obama’s former digital strategist.

“Obama’s supporters are panicking and willing to do anything to create the appearance of popular support, even if it means trying to defraud Congress,” Stockman said. “I call upon the president to denounce this phony spam campaign.”

Federal Court Rejects Concealed-Carry Permit

In a landmark ruling on Friday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Second Amendment does not permit carrying a concealed weapon in public. The Court said that carrying a loaded handgun outside of the home or car is not protected under the Amendment, setting a federal precedent for concealed-carry permits.

The case, Peterson vs. Martinez, involved a Washington State resident who filed a lawsuit against Denver’s Department of Public Safety, challenging a Colorado law that allowed only state residents to carry “Concealed Handgun Licenses.”

When the Tenth Circuit Court issued the ruling, they cited numerous prior Supreme Court cases, making an appeal to the higher court unlikely.

Legal Loopholes in Gun Trusts

The trend of establishing and buying guns through “gun trusts” is growing among shooting enthusiasts. The New York Times reports that many are sharing firearms with family members and passing down weapons through the legal trusts, which offer protection against future gun control legislation since they’ll likely be grandfathered in.

This exempts the owners from background checks, fingerprinting and other regulations. Lawyers who handle the trusts said that rarely are guns purchased through trusts because of these exemptions. But while most dealers carry out background checks when selling guns through trusts, some do not.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, however, is working to close that loophole.